In a cynical and dangerous decision, the Supreme Court has made Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 almost impossible to enforce. It did so while upholding election laws in Arizona that disproportionately hurt Hispanic, Native-American, and African-American voters. The effects of today’s case, coupled with the Court’s gutting of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder, will be felt nationwide, as self-serving Republican politicians ramp up their attacks to restrict the right to vote–something they openly admit they are doing to benefit their electoral prospects. The impacts of this decision will fall hardest on communities of color, continuing America’s long, dark history of putting up barriers to vote for these groups of American citizens.
“The Supreme Court’s Brnovich v. DNC decision is a threat to American democracy and will go down as one of the most odious and harmful decisions in the Court’s history. It keeps in place two racist, discriminatory, restrictive voting laws. It also guts almost all of the enforcement tools in the Voting Rights Act, which is our country’s strongest and most effective defense against racially-charged anti-voting laws,” said Tiffany Muller, President of End Citizens United and Let America Vote. “We cannot allow this attack on the freedom to vote to stand. It’s now more urgent than ever that Congress passes both the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to affirmatively protect every American’s freedom to vote, counteract the restrictive voting laws being passed in states across the country, and prevent future barriers to voting from being put into place.”
In her dissent, Justice Kagan wrote, “The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is an extraordinary law… Never has a statute done more to advance the Nation’s highest ideals. And few laws are more vital in the current moment. Yet in the last decade, this Court has treated no statute worse.”
Today’s decision overlooks decades of precedent that looked at both the intent and impact of voting restrictions on minority voters. Finishing the job they started in Shelby County v. Holder eight years ago, the Court has now effectively gutted almost all of the enforcement tools of the Voting Rights Act. This will have devastating effects nationwide, giving Republican legislatures near-free reign to pass laws that will add significant barriers to voting for certain groups of people.
Since the 2020 presidential election, legislators in 48 states have introduced 389 restrictive voting bills. Studies show that these types of restrictive laws disproportionately impact Black and brown voters, Native Americans, seniors, and low-income voters.
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